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Don’t Risk your health by living at University Suites or the Villas! These two places are owned and managed by the same people who rent out dangerous conditions, verbally abuse tenants, and use clauses in their lease to break state rental law and commit fraud. You will not be given a chance to take the lease with you to read over carefully when you first meet with the Property manager Ginger Wade.
I moved into apartment 911 at the Villas on May 23rd 2011 and within the week the place started to grow mold profusely on the bathroom wall. I put in a maintenance request and Mike Idyle the site manager eventually arrived on June 2nd looked at the mold and demanded I turn on the air conditioning. At first I was merely confused and asked “The air conditioning?” That was when Mike turned to me rudely pointed his finger and demanded in a nasty tone “You know that is in your lease!” I had no idea at the time why he would have behaved so rudely. I remembered that I had forgotten to get a copy of the lease when I have signed it back in February. I went ahead and turned on the air-conditioning set to 76 degrees.
Several things that Ginger Wade had said just after I signed the first lease for apartment 1101 had worried me, but I did not think that things would get as bad as they did. For one she talked while I was reading the lease and I stupidly thought nothing of it. Furthermore, she switched apartments in the middle of the meeting after I had signed the first lease. The stupidest thing I could of done was signed the second lease; however, since I had signed the first I thought I had no choice. Furthermore, she told me it was never certain which apartment any tenant was getting, and she was forcing the current tenant of apartment 911 to leave three days before his lease was up which was illegal and unnecessary since I did not need to move in until June 1st. I never should have moved in after the way she behaved. It is not safe to live in a place managed by someone who is so dishonest, and it should have been clear to me that Ginger was deceitful when she said she could not let the apartment stand empty between May 23rd when the first tenants lease originally ended, and June 1st when I could have moved in.
Mike Idyle did send someone to clean up the mold, but it just grew back within the week. The air conditioning did nothing to help as I suspected. I put in another maintenance request on June 9th and got a copy of the lease from Ginger. The lease did in fact say I was to run the air conditioning to prevent mold, and it had a number of other items I had never seen before as well. It was not the document I had signed. I knew I had missed a few things on the lease when I went to see Mike Idyle on May the 27th for my orientation meeting he actually read part of the lease to me a practice I believe he does with all new tenants because after this experience I am sure they do not wish the tenants to see the entire lease before they sign it. I emailed Mike later on June 9th to ask if the temperature of 76 degrees was adequate he never responded.
He came on June 10th with the dehumidifier. I asked him again in 76 was adequate he did not respond to the question but rudely ordered me to turn on the air conditioning. I told him it was on. He rudely said it was awfully hot . I asked again what temperature and he finally said 68 degrees. I had to start sleeping in my winter pajamas I was already sick from the mold and the cold temperature only made things worse. It took Mike over a week to come back and clean the mold by which point it had infected the closet, the cabinet under kitchen sink, one entire wall of the bathroom, and the wall behind my bed. Also strangely enough tenants are forbidden to move their beds. The fifty pint dehumidifier filled up once a day; this meant that the apartment was far too humid to be occupied.
I had noticed that the wall in the bathroom was warped from moisture. I realized that there was no hope for the apartment without extensive repairs. Since Mike was lying and being rude about the situation, I thought there was no hope in trying to work with him. I called Jackson County Health Department on the morning of the 17th. A woman identifying herself as Gladys answered. When I explained the situation, I heard her whispering to someone, and then she hung up. I took me a minute or so to realize she had hung up. I thought I better call her back because I couldn’t believe she had actually hung up and we just must have gotten disconnected. I got another woman who just started yelling at me to demand to know where I was calling from and why I was calling and yelled that they could do nothing. I eventually demanded her name and she said she was Tonya Howell.
I realized later in the day that I should give Ginger a chance to correct the situation since Mike would not. I knew this probably would not happen, but I should give her a chance. I called her and started explain the situation. She rudely interrupted yelling at me to ask if the dehumidifier was running. Of course it was I would not have been able, at that point, to breathe without it, so I confirmed that I had been running it. Then she demanded to know why I was calling her. I explained again that I hoped to peacefully resolve the situation by moving to another apartment. Before I could mention that letting me out of the lease would be acceptable, she yelled that it would not be till August that she could move me “maybe”. She demanded in a rude tone to know if the maintenance request was put in writing. There is no other way to put in a maintenance request there. I told her I had put it in writing, but she went off yelling anyway about how it had to be put in writing and why. This was the not only the nastiest way she could have reacted it was the most idiotic. It left me thinking there was no choice but to seek legal remedies. I have no idea why both she and Mike insist on being dishonest and verbally abusive rather than working with tenants on these issues. Even without the dangerous conditions no one should pay rent to be abused by these two. I heard Mike on three separate occasions spending over ten minutes balling out other tenants. Furthermore, Ginger is never polite after you have signed the lease and often resorts to yelling especially when it is totally inappropriate. Ginger is so nasty that she even went as far as to scream “NO!” and hang up the phone on a friend of mine who just called to ask if they did short term leases. I called the Jackson County Building inspectors office and the woman who called me back very politely and apologetically told me there was no minimum housing standard in Jackson County. I put in yet another maintenance request that day mentioning the warp in the wall.
Mike merely responded to the maintenance request by demanding that I put the air conditioning at 66 degrees. I soon came to the conclusion that anytime I requested that Mike do his job he would just punish me by making me colder. He also claimed that there was no warp in the wall that the dry wall was just improperly hung. The drywall was improperly hung there is a very clear slant in the wall indicating it; however, that does not change the fact that the bathroom wall had a bubble at the bottom that could only be caused by moisture.
After roughly three weeks of illness some friends of mine were kind enough to put me up in a motel so I could recover. I went to the campus health center and received a note from a PA there explaining that my health was too poor to live in such conditions. I took the note to Mike who finally contacted the owner Robert Henline. Mr. Henline promised to allow me to turn down the air-conditioning to 72 degrees if I run a second dehumidifier and move me at the end of July. He explained that they were just going to keep having trouble with that which I thought meant they planned to repair or not rent out apartment 911 again until they did. He also promised to pay my electric for running the second dehumidifier, but Ginger charged me just the same. Mr. Henline said I should talk to Ginger about the move and of course when I called her she was very rude and reminded me running the air conditioning to their specifications was on the lease, but DO NOT BE FOOLED. Since under North Carolina State Law42-42-(a)-l a landlord must repair any drainage issue contributing to mold, that clause in the lease is almost certainly illegal. Air conditioning only dehumidifies slightly and will do nothing for moisture issues serious enough to cause mold. The only way to solve mold is to stop water from seeping into the walls and under floors and replace the dry wall and flooring. Furthermore, it is unbelievably cruel that they expect they have the right to control the temperature of any home other than theirs. In addition, since they are using the air-conditioning to avoid their legal responsibility to repair the drainage, and the tenant pays the electric this part of the lease is fraud. Mr. Henline kept his promise to move me, but a man was moved in right away and nothing was repaired. The only reason I was moved was because I was willing to keep on them and seek legal help if I needed it. It was not done out of kindness, nor willingness to obey the law.
In addition to the mold that is quite dangerous, the furniture reeks of formaldehyde. I had wondered what the odor was in the apartment until I found the label under from beneath the table. The kitchen table, stools, night stand, and dresser all have labels stating that the furniture was rejected in California for formaldehyde. These are on the back of the dresser and night stand and underneath the table and stools. The last apartment I had there still reeked of formaldehyde when I left in July of 2012 even though I kept the window open in all mild weather to dissipate the scent. Formaldehyde is also a dangerous substance.
If all of these factors were not horrible enough, about a third of the lease is nothing but fraud. A tenant is fined $50 for losing their key rather than just being asked to pay for a replacement. The tenants are also fined for getting locked out of their apartments even if they locked their key inside. A tenant is fined $100 dollars for allowing a non-resident to use the washer and dryer in the apartment; this is too incredible since the tenant pays and all the electric. Tenants will also have their television or internet services revoked or lose pool privileges for breaking any part of the lease such as leaving dirty dishes out; this should never happen since the tenants rent is supposed to cover these utilities and amenities. The utilities and amenities should; therefore, be revoked only for nonpayment of rent. They insist on changing the light bulbs and charging the tenant $10 per bulb. They have the tenant paint when moving out. No sensible landlord would do this since not everyone knows how to paint. Furthermore, the tenant is charged $35 dollars per hour that a workman or painter is in their room after they move out if not every demand is followed. They only pay the painters and workmen $10, the supplies could not be worth $25 an hour; this price is just fraud. The Villas and Suites specify which cleaning products the tenant uses and how they should clean. The worst fraud is that everyone must pay for the full month of July, but those leaving have to be moved out by July 20th. They insist that everything is taken off the floor for the quarterly insect spray which is highly inconvenient. Two of my neighbors told me that Mike Idyle entered their apartment without even knocking. They demand that tenants make no noise including footfalls after ten thirty. I have no idea how this is supposed to be possible. The electricity goes out spontaneously roughly every three weeks. The managers and owner of the Suites and Villas have no interest in doing repairs they are legally obligated to; however, they do senseless things such as painting the sidewalk between the 900 and 1000 building. The fumes made me dizzy on the third floor and nearly made a friend of mine, who was visiting, sick. After the paint dried it made the sidewalk slippery in the rain but also when it was dry.
The three weeks I was sick at the Villas were the most frightening time of my life. No one even apologized for the three weeks of illness or the verbal abuse I suffered. The sinus infection and stress of living in this prison lowered my grades. The horror of living in an unsafe environment run like a prison is far too great a stress for anyone and nothing one should pay for. Please do not let this happen to you.
I am not the person you remember. I have never left my windows open in the summer heat nor did Mike ever talk to me about the windows. In fact I suffered horribly from not opening the windows hoping that if I didn't the airconditioning would help with the humidity. The pictures and exterior wall prove the mold.
Wow this place gets worse and worse. I remember how upset Ginger was when she had to peacefully resolve the issue I had with mold without having to deal with a lawsuit as they should have to prevent what happened to me from happening again. Esssenttially she was mad she got away with it instead of getting to mess with me more. I wonder how long they think they can maintain this. But I think their goal is to make big bucks in a few years well hurting their renters as much as they can.
I am now living at the Suites for my 2nd year and have nothing but nice things to say about this place. How can this site put up a review from 10 years ago as relevant. Looks like Alice needed to get a life. This place has to best prices and alot of amenities. Everyone I know loves this place
HAHAHA! This is so full of crap. First of all honey- it's not your apartment. It's theirs. They can make you turn the temperature to whatever they want to. Secondly, of course you'll pay for your electric. If you get work done in a home and have a company come out, you'll be responsible for the electric that they use. It is common sense. I know this is old by now, but I am hoping that you grew up and matured from this. You don't realize how complex the industry is. I'm sure you had absolutely "no fault" in this whatsoever. *Sarcasm*
Based on your vernacular, I can see that you know how to "Google" the answer to all of your problems. You should be cautious to do that. You should get real facts and information that actually has to do with what you're complaining about. For example, had you done your research, you would have known that you were required to notify the complex in writing within 48 hours of your mold issue. In no part of the "review" did you mention the time-span it took for you to actually notify them of the issue.
From what it sounds like, you seem to be an entitled little girl who sees everything as an inconvenience. I hope now that you realize that it's LIFE, sweetheart. You have certain responsibilities as a lease holder and they have theirs as a property owner. You do your part, they do theirs. It is that simple. As I said, I hope you've grown up from this. I will be using this as an example to my children to show them how NOT to act when something happens. People deserve much more respect than that and it sounds like you could practice more.
I agree, this place is an absolutely horrible place to live. Not only are the staff (Ginger and Mike) extremely unprofessional, but they also KNOW that they are scamming broke college student and inexperienced renters. They know that we want to handle our living situations without help from our parents, as we are now adults, so they hide clauses in the ***30-page*** lease knowing that we won't take the time to read it all while Ginger is talking to us when we aren't asking questions. I was trying to read my lease when I signed it, and asked Ginger to please give me a while to read it. She said that I had to read it while I was in her office, and that I couldn't take it out of her office. While I tried to read it in silence, she began talking about senseless things -- i.e., When do classes start? How has your summer been? Are you excited to move in?, Etc. Now that I live here, Mike takes his sweet time responding to maintenance requests. Our smoke detector batteries die very quickly, and when we ask him to come change the batteries (we can't reach the detectors without a ladder because our ceilings are about 12 ft high), he says he'll change them during "quarterly" inspections. In the 9 months I have lived here, I have had ONE inspection. Mike was supposed to spray for bugs and change our air filters over Spring Break (over a month ago), and the filters still haven't been changed, and we've had two ant infestations. We keep our kitchen pretty clean, yet the ants showed up anyway. After the first time, we set out ant traps and kept the kitchen EXTRA clean, and make Mike bring Orkin in to spray. They sprayed the problem areas, and the ants came back. Not sure what the problem is at this point. On top of all this, problems with the lease: Ginger told us to make sure we signed our lease for next year (Aug 2014-Jul 2015) before Christmas break (so the beginning of December) to ensure that our rent wouldn't go up. She strongly enforced this, so we signed in fear that we would be paying much more than we already were, and this is the only place we can afford to live. We signed, and lo and behold, RENT WENT DOWN. But because we had already signed our lease for next year, Ginger will not honor the lower price. Figures. More problems with the lease: I had to prove to my sorority that I have signed a housing agreement for next year so that I am not charged for not living in the sorority house. I asked Ginger for a copy of my lease for this reason, and she only gave me a copy of the pages that I actually signed. Not the 20-some pages in between that have the meat of the lease. Why wouldn't she give me a copy of the entire thing, when that's what I asked for (a copy of my lease)? I didn't ask for a copy of three pages of my lease. This all seems so fishy to me, and it only leads me to believe that there is some form on dishonesty going on behind-the-scenes that someone, somewhere, doesn't want the renters to know about.
*********************I had a worse experience here. The day i went to move in someone was already moving in and so we went to the office and she told me she never seen me before. And my lease was gone she told me the copier was broken but i would receive it the day i moved in. Needless to say I actually had to postpone my schooling because of this and had to drive 8 hours home with my rented trailer after driving 8 hours there back to my parents. DO NOT RENT HERE. People will say this is fake, this is slander. You take the chance and end up sleeping in the car. And losing money with nothing you can do because there was no proof you were there. They take advantage of unexperienced renters. I finally got a beautiful apartment at Hampton Bulldog acres i have since graduated and left. Please take to heart. These people are scammers, the sad part is nobody can do anything because you dont have proof with things given to you.******************
Horrible
These apartments do not hold up lease agreements. Ginger left me homeless 2weeks before classes started. Her excuses are flawed and ridiculous. No professionalism what so ever. What you put out into the universe always comes back. This was a learning experience.
The Suites and Villas - A Safe Place to Rent & Live
I have had a great experience living here – but I am going to complain about a complaint. Yes- that’s right. Read on. These apartments are well cared for, they are modern, and they have everything I need or want. Basically, a good place to live. I like both of the managers, they seem to keep everything going smoothly. A couple days ago, I posted a comment on here that opposed a long, drawn out & bad review I found. This review spoke so badly about “The Suites and Villas” & its staff, that I knew something was wrong. This person cropped a picture of a furniture label i had easy access to. i bet she did that to make a point out of a lie. This person also posted a bad review about a government office she complained to, and the fact that this office would not justify her complaint against the apartments. SO here is why I am writing this- this person then posted a comment, about my comment – telling me I did not remember something correctly.
I normally care less about internet posts, but the fact that this user attempted to control the comment board by saying I did not remember something correctly – well it made me realize she was truly misrepresenting reality. I took it upon myself to point out the following holes in her massively long story. IF for some reason this user adjusts her complaint so that what i point out seems incorrect, i can not help it. You can email me at: Katiebop86@gmail.com and i will send you the copy of what she had online when i wrote this story.
1) (This is what the user “Alice 1979” stated on the comment board I was not remembering correctly). I lived next to this girl in 2011. I remember Mike Idyle begging the tenant in this apartment to close the windows in the middle of a rain storm one day around the end of May/beginning of June 2011. I remember because I could hear the girl inside saying that the rain would not hurt her apartment, when in fact Mike Idyle pointed out the wind was blowing, and that he could see a lot of water coming in to the room. I remember this, and I remember laughing, thinking how silly this girl must have been. THIS GIRL CALLED ME A LIAR FOR POINTING THIS OUT VIA A COMMENT ON HER COMPLAINT! I think it is funny how this girl then complains about there being a smell in her apartment, and her leaving the window open to air out the apartment.
2) The user indicates she did not exercise climate control over her apartment until she was asked by the site manager, Mike Idyle, to turn on her AC. You have to run your air conditioner in Cullowhee when it starts to get warm, because it is a RAINFOREST. It does get humid here, & proper climate control stops the negative effects of humidity that can cause mildew – which is why we are required to exercise climate control over our apartment in our lease. If ‘Alice 1979’ did not have enough sense to use her AC when it started to get hot, and furthermore, if she let rain in with open windows - she deserves whatever unhealthy environments occur as a result.
3) This user slams Ginger Wade for having a discussion with her in the office, and filling out the girl’s paperwork when she was signing a lease. It sounds like Ginger was doing exactly what she did with me, giving me information, answering my questions during the conversation, and giving me documents to review.
4) This user states that she did not get a copy of a lease she signed, I asked for a copy of mine when I signed it, why didn’t she? She then seems to state that after she got a copy of the lease, there were new parts that weren’t in what she signed…if she did not get a copy of what she signed, how does she know? It sounds like she didn’t read it, or blacked out or something.
5) This user states that Mike Idyle held an orientation that covered some things in the lease, how is this a bad thing? She has made it out to sound horrible. The user then goes on to state that she believes he has orientations to mislead people before they sign a lease. Orientations are for people who live here, not people who don’t live here. You have to sign a lease to live here from what I understand.
6) The user states that she kept her apartment pretty warm, even after being asked to turn on her AC. She then points out that Mike Idyle had to ask her a second time to turn it on, meaning it had not been running. If she was already asked to turn on her AC, and she did not care enough to keep it going so that it could effectively work, I only feel sorry for Mike Idyle that he had to keep repeating himself with someone who would not listen.
7) She states that Mike brought her a dehumidifier after she was asked to run her AC a second time. She then tries to cast a negative light on it.
8) It is stated she called the health department, and they hung up on her. That does not sound normal. I would imagine the health department discussed the problem and the environment, and told her to run her AC and her dehumidifier, since the place had been so nice as to provide these luxuries.
9) This girl says Ginger was rude to her on the phone…multiple times. Ginger has always been nice to me, and a lot of people I know say the same thing.
10) Amidst all of this, she also points out the fact that she was moved to another apartment, and that she then signed a second lease on that apartment. She must have liked her second place a lot, to have committed herself to signing another lease after what she has made out to be such a bad time in her life.
This girl proceeds to (additionally) complain about so much that are actually good things in my view - having scheduled pest sprays from an exterminator& being asked to keep personal items off the floor during, the staff painting the outside of a building, a statement in the lease requiring her to keep her apartment clean and well maintained, and for the managers having the power to exercise authority over those who break the rules. She lies about a light bulb fee, stating that the managers charge ten dollars per light bulb – when in fact they offer a flat rate onetime $10 charge to replace all of your light bulbs – for as long as you live here! I know I have gone thru more than $10 in bulbs, with as many fluorescent bulbs as I have gone through in 3 years. She complains about not knowing how to paint and being charged for it, but it seems to me she would only complain about this if she did something to the paint that would cause it to need fixing. She complains about the managers asking people to be quiet – how can you complain about this? This is a college town, and this is THE QUIETEST place around WCU..I think that is a good thing. She states she knows how much the staff makes, which means she must have worked there, or is lying – either way, doesn’t seem very credible when she states it in such a negative light.
As the cherry on top of her complaint – she then complains about how nobody offered her an apology. Take responsibility for your own life, and try not blaming everyone around you when they are trying to help you.
What a ridiculous slander piece. I sincerely hope this garbage is taken down. I have lived at University Suites, and found it to be one of the cleanest, most well maintained apartments in the WCU area, so I feel obligated to point out some of the outright lies here. First of all, the lease is very clear about all of the issues you mentioned. There is no "different lease" - this is just plain false. Second, it sounds like your decision to leave your windows open and refuse to run the air conditioner are what caused your poor living conditions. From what you wrote, it sounds like many special efforts were made to accomodate you that are not necessary for other tenants - even so far as moving you to another apartment in a fully booked apartment complex! I had several maintenance issues during my time at University Suites - they were all handled professionally and without incident. Your propensity for lying makes me very hesitant to believe your anecdotal stories about the management. Your story about calling the health department reeks of lying, conspiratorial nonsense. Do you really believe that they are "in on it" and are working with University Suites to make you miserable? How absurd. Your flagrant assumptions about how the funds for maintenance are delegated are based on nothing but your own conspiracy theories. These apartments have been a mainstay of Cullowhee and WCU for many, many years, with no such outlandish claims as this being made. It sounds like you are the problem here, not University Suites. I hope the management pursues legal action against you for this rambling, incoherent rant.
Part of what caused the mold is the way the building is on a steep incline and there is no gap between the building and the hill so there isn't proper drainage on the building the person was in.
My boyfriend and i have an apartment at The VIllas, and we remember being neighbors with this girl. I have not had the experiences she posted about, but i can state that Mike Idyle our Manager did have to resort to almost begging her to close her windows during multiple rainstorms in the middle of 100 degree summer heat. This extra water in her apartment seems like it would not have helped a situation with mildew. i also went and looked at my furniture, and it appears this girl took a picture of only one label on our furniture, as the other label says that it was approved for use & sale in California, I guess a furniture maker has to post the information that it is ok and safe, so i am glad they did.
i don't agree with this complaint. i have lived at these apartments for three years, and this story seems to be nothing but slander.